


We Three

by LZielinsky



Category: Original Work
Genre: Bisexual Female Character, F/F, F/M, Menage, Multi, Novel, Open Marriage, Open Relationships, Original Fiction, Polyamory, Threesome - F/F/M, erotic romance, f/f - Freeform, f/m - Freeform, swinging
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-26
Updated: 2018-11-07
Packaged: 2019-06-16 16:29:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15441096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LZielinsky/pseuds/LZielinsky
Summary: Married swingers Eric and Elena Tanner invite single bi female, Jess Davies, into their sexually open relationship. What starts as playtime for all three begins to grow into something more profound.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This particular story is near and dear to my heart, a real piece of emotional analysis on my feelings and experiences with bisexuality, swinging, and polyamory. It is fiction and no connection to real persons is intended. What is contained here is the first few chapters. The entire novel will be published by Supposed Crimes, which also handle my previous two lesbian romance novels. I'll update with information about availability of the release when I have it. Thank you for reading. I hope you will enjoy the story, from the beginning.

Holding a Mai Tai for Elena and a scotch and soda on the rocks for him, Eric passed through Club Caliente's instructional room designated for the month as the art photography gallery. He tried act like he was ignorant of comments being made by people clustering around the displays, but he was nervous. Photography had been a hobby for years. More recently, though, he had begun focusing on more sensual and erotic subjects, and some of his pieces were on display tonight.

Couples gravitated toward the artistic or partial nudes and photos with boudoir settings. A few had recognized his primary subject: his wife Elena, even if she was wearing a mask in all the images, or only visible from the throat down. He and Elena had been members at Caliente for five years and had sex with a wide variety of people.

He hesitated when he saw a single woman studying his photo display. She was alone, quiet, head tilted with clearly deep interest. She wore a slightly ill-fitting black suit - the shoulders a little too wide and the hem a little too long on her body. She had the jacket pulled back, which revealed a crisp white Oxford dress shirt also slightly mis-sized. The woman's blond hair, which looked like it might be quite long, had been knotted and secured at the back of her head with a claw clip. It was messy, but indescribably enhanced her attractiveness.

His artist's eye was intrigued to find out how deep her attractiveness went.

The closer he drew to her, the more he thought maybe the suit was a loaner from an indulgent boyfriend, who liked the more androgynous appearance of a woman in men's clothing. But the next detail he noted suggested she was not on a date, but undoubtedly alone. She carried herself defensively, her hands in her pockets, her shoulders a little hunched, weaving a bit as if to keep her surroundings in perspective at all times.

Despite the music layered through the space from both the dancefloor and the private club beyond the gallery walls, his footsteps echoed on the parquet. Her expression when she turned on him was that of a deer in headlights. But he kept moving forward. She wasn't just pretty; she was breathtaking. He had to meet her.

Her face was carved and thin, shaped by broad arching brows. High curved cheekbones swept down to where her jaw angled into a pointed chin. It was the most heart-shaped face he thought he had ever seen. She could have modeled for classicly illustrated European fairy tales.

Her hair was pale gold, and her skin cream. Her lips were a natural pink, and unpainted, not even wearing a lip gloss. Crystal-clear green eyes darted between his while she tried to discern his motives.

Eric cleared his throat and asked, "Do you like photography?" He nodded toward the photograph in front of her.

The blond woman turned away without immediately answering. She returned to studying the photograph and Eric's fascination with her grew. She was young, possibly only in her early twenties, but her gaze was so serious he briefly wondered if she was also a photographer.

Finally she spoke. "They're…not what I expected. The…This one is so… romantic." Her tone was hesitant, as though she carefully considered each word before voicing it. Okay, so she wasn't a photographer, but she was deeply affected by the work.

Eric's body tightened in surprising anticipation, not necessarily of sex, but being turned on by the woman's intelligence; her body was merely a bonus. His grin was a bit preening, but he let it come anyway. "Thank you. That photo is one of mine. I'm Eric."

She looked at a few nearby photographs and seemed to make a connection in her head. "Your model is very beautiful. Exotic."

Eric smiled again. "El is…well, she's… one of a kind."

The blonde gazed back at the photograph again. Her gazed traced Elena's body. His wife had posed on her left side, head against her upraised hand, eyes just a touch downward, enough so that she looked through her lashes at the camera. Come here, she seemed to say from slightly parted lips.

When he turned back to take in the blonde's reaction he noticed the pulse in the blonde woman's throat throbbed and her left hand opened wide and closed slowly. Oh, he realized, she's attracted to Elena. That was a delightful discovery.

He spoke again. "I'm glad the photograph interests you. It's for sale, tonight's gallery is fundraising for the local domestic abuse center."

"Sale? I…" The blonde shook her head. "I…I couldn't buy it. It's just…really pretty."

Eric tried a soft-pitch line, hoping he wouldn't come off like a creeper. He'd at least like to know her name. "So are you. What's your name? Would you like to pose sometime?"

"Me? Posing?" The blonde again was surprised. "I'm not… Why would you waste film on me when…she is…"

"It's a lot of fun with the camera these days. No film. If we don't like it, it's just bytes to delete." Eric wished he had a card to give her. The more he looked at this woman, the more he wanted to photograph her. Would she enjoy posing for him, or posing with Elena?

Eric pleasantly stiffened at the images his mind conjured. He added, "You could meet Elena at least? She'd love to meet you."

"I could…" He read her expression, briefly mid-distant, as thinking it over. She looked at him more directly after a moment and seemed to be judging him. "How long has she been modeling for you?"

He reflected on his wife with a widening smile. "Just a couple years." He gestured to the photograph and recalled the session: "She planned out this whole shoot." Elena had played out a seductive scene while he snapped away, crossing the mattress with the sinewy grace of a cat, only to lay back, part her legs and give him a perfect view of her fingers sliding in and out of herself. Above the frame of his camera, her eyes had darkened almost black and she whispered "fuck me" repeatedly, until he turned off the auto-snap and buried his face between her thighs to lick up all that creamy and luscious cum.

He came back from his vision to find the blonde studying him curiously. "I got very lucky."

"Seems like you did." The blonde's thoughts were so clearly telegraphed that Eric was unsurprised by her words when they did come: "I would like to meet El...Elena."

"She's here tonight," Eric said easily. "We came for the opening of the gallery."

"So that's why you have two drinks," the blonde said and her gaze drifting downward from his.

He blinked and chuckled upon looking to his own hands, indeed still holding drinks. The ice in his scotch was mostly melted. Wow, he'd been talking a long time. "I'm going to have to get these replaced."

"I can do that for you."

"Oh, no, actually, could I buy you a drink?"

"No drinking for me, I'm tending bar. Well, I'm Gus's back up anyway," she said.

Eric smiled wider; he'd learned something. "Hey, all right, so you work for the club. That's interesting. What's your name?"

"I...my name's Jess."

Eric smiled. "Very nice to meet you, Jess."

.

Jess moved quickly, trying not to put her head down - she wasn't bulling her way through a crowd. She glanced back once to see Eric still followed her. The man was quite handsome, blond hair mixed with strands of brown. She didn't think he colored it, since his mustache was similar. It was also well-trimmed and he wore his suit comfortably, a clue that he was used to wearing good clothes. He had looked her over pretty thoroughly when she'd turned to his voice in the art gallery.

Though aware his words were an attempt to pick her up, Jess hadn't felt awkward. He had a polite manner. He hadn't come off as shallow or desperate. This Elena, his model, seemed to be a real person, and he was quite taken with her. Jess thought this made him nothing more than he appeared: a photographer with genuine interest in her posing for him. She wouldn't be averse to other, more intimate activities. He might make a nice nightcap after last call and she closed the bar.

If the nightcap could include his model, Jess thought she'd really enjoy that. The sensuality and hunger in the model's dark brown eyes had been pulling Jess in and making her feel a need for contact ever since she first laid eyes on the photographs. She was very open to the idea of sex without strings.

Then Eric had gotten that distant memory-filled look when he talked about his model. The way it seemed, from both the words and the photographs, he really knew the brunette, not only as sexy flesh, but as a person.

Such a man didn't seem like he'd treat women like objects in bed and Jess's imaginings went from just sexy times with Elena to including Eric.

When she had stepped behind the bar Jess took the glasses from Eric's hands. "Have you and Elena come to the club often?" She was dumping the glasses out, waiting for his response when she realized she hadn't asked him what the drinks were. Her question came out over his own response to her first one:

"Elena and I have been members for about five years."

"What were you drinking?"

Eric chuckled, the sound throaty and bemused. "Elena had a Mai Tai. And I had a scotch and soda on the rocks." He leaned on the bar. Jess felt warmed by his interested study of her work.

"Here you are!"

Jess looked up at the female voice just as a woman reached the bar. She caught her breath. There was no mistaking that face, even unmasked the lines of her bow-like lips and the tawny tan of her Latina skin was unmistakable: Elena. Jess's pulse sped up as she regarded the brunette. Dazed, she placed the two completed drinks on the bartop.

"Of course," the brunette continued speaking to Eric, but she was looked directly at Jess. "You're chatting up a beautiful woman."

Elena leaned one elbow on the bar and glanced from Jess to Eric now, her smile bright. The angle of her arm tipped Jess to the fact that Elena was of similar height to Jess. "Introduce us?"

"Jess," Eric said, "was just refreshing our drinks."

"He's an incredible photographer," Elena said. Jess was deeply affected by the woman's lightly accented tones, and the full bow lips curling into a secret smile as she held Jess's gaze. "It isn't just the camera that gets so deep inside you," she added.

Elena's fingers drifted across the bartop. Tingles erupted up Jess's arm on contact and flowed into her chest. Stifling a moan, Jess rolled her bottom lip between her teeth. "Perhaps I might still have a chance?" Elena said, eyes, it seemed, only for Jess. "Making out is hot, but sometimes I do love to fuck." The last word was so bare, spoken huskily. Seductive.

More tingles - Elena's fingers still stroked Jess's - flooded into Jess's groin. She shifted and dislodged Elena's touch.

"I-yeah." Jess's body was in chaos. She had seen a cat with catnip once a long time ago. Her body felt like that now: writhing, wanting to wrap herself around something or someone; too warm. Drunk. "Me too."

Elena's smile came closer, her brown gaze captivating Jess. The brunette lifted her body partially over the bar and leaned forward. Jess got a brief view down the deep V of Elena's cinnamon red cocktail dress to see modest breasts cupped in black lace. Then soft lips drifted against Jess's cheek and she could only close her eyes to absorb the pure sensuality of the contact.

"Thank you," Elena murmured against the shell of Jess's ear, "for the drinks."

Jess's heart hammered in her chest; Elena slid back off the bar, brown gaze holding Jess captive. Then the brunette smiled and pulled Eric away from the bar. Jess watched as Elena took the Mai Tai from Eric. She tucked the straw between her dark lips and half the liquid in the glass disappeared as if the brunette had been parched.

Watching the couple walk away, Jess reached for a water for her suddenly dry throat. Unfortunately, the glass she grabbed held soda water, bitter and flat. She wrinkled her nose and spat it back, then dumped the glass's contents in the disposal.

When she looked up again, a balding patron had approached and held out an empty glass. "Horse's neck, please."

Jess smiled and poured the ingredients together. Done, she nudged the glass toward him on the bartop and quoted him the price for a single-alcohol mixed drink. She collected his cash and separated the couple dollars of tip to her own pocket while he walked away.

The remainder of the evening passed uneventfully for Jess. She filled drink requests, cashed out tabs, and politely deflected passes. Nearing last call, Jess spotted the photographer, Eric, again. He and his brunette model, Elena, were walking with another couple.

Elena walked holding the hand of a bald thick-bodied Hispanic male who appeared to be around fifty years old. A willow-thin blonde woman held Eric's arm. From the crow's feet and tight throat, Jess guessed the woman's age to be also around fifty.

The foursome exited through a doorway at the far end of the gallery room. A small placard posted on the wall beside the door announced the group's destination: Playrooms.

She recalled then that both Eric and Elena had flirted with her. The opportunity to get together with Eric and Elena was slipping away. She wished briefly for another break, so she could find them and let them know she was interested.

"It's almost last call."

Jess turned from studying the now-closed playroom door to see Gus walking toward the bar. An older man with a closely trimmed salt-n-pepper beard and mustache, Gustav, or simply "Gus," was the club's head bartender. He had been circulating since midnight, checking the supplies at various water and refreshment stations and accounting in the stockroom, which had left her alone as the primary bartender for most of the last two hours.

She smiled at him, not pausing in wiping down the bartop with a clean damp rag. "Receipts have been good," she said. "I even made some tips."

"Beautiful woman bartenders always makes men tipsy." He was smiling and his tone was teasing. He quickly crouched to account the bar's open bottles. "Any trouble?"

Jess shook her head. She had watered down very few drinks. The men who came by had been polite, usually buying drinks for themselves and someone else. The few who bought single drinks were chatty, usually enough for her to tell whether they had too much to drink. But they were all complimentary of her, not crass in their flirting, or rude. "No, no trouble. Everyone's being very nice. They probably don't want to scare 'the new girl' away."

"Did you enjoy your break earlier tonight?"

Jess nodded. "I felt a little underdressed, but I enjoyed the gallery art."

"The photography?" Gus asked, standing again, seemingly satisfied. Jess worked next to him, efficiently clearing traps, and setting glassware, mixing cups and jiggers into a bussing basin for transport to the club kitchen for full cleaning.

"Yeah, I always thought a crowd like this would prefer," she paused, searching for the right word. She finally settled on the most basic description: "porn." Gus pulled a towel from his shoulder and started to wipe down the bar. She went on, sharing her surprise. "But it was really…nice. Sexy. Very erotic, but really… romantic."

"I met one of the photographers." Jess lifted the now-full dish basin and stepped back from the bar. After locking the bar's cabinets, Gus followed her to the club's kitchen, holding open the service door for her.

"One of the swingers here?"

"Yeah, I guess. He and his model, Elena, were through a few times."

"His model? Not his wife?"

"They didn't wear rings," Jess said.

"Not everyone does," Gus replied.

"I didn't know that."

"Genevieve and I wore our rings as necklaces," he said, pulling out the chain from under the collar of his button up shirt.

"Genevieve? I didn't know you're married."

"Genevieve and I were married more than forty-five years."

Jess winced. She was soon to turn 25. She thought of Eric and Elena, who had looked to be in their thirties, and the couple in their fifties whom the two were obviously playing with. "So you were swingers to make your marriage more fun?"

"Isn't it just wife swapping? Singles don't swing, right?" She tried to recall if she had seen any single people heading for the playrooms.

"Single men are often discouraged by the entry pricing. At most places, like here, it is very high. Attendance policies at clubs are strict for singles, too, but I've seen some single men and women pay entry to clubs as a 'couple' and then spend most of the night playing with others. And single women are very popular with the couples."

"Do you still…play?" she asked.

"No. Why? Are you looking for a date?" He grinned.

She shook her head. "No," she said, "just wondering." Methodically she dried glasses before putting each one away into the cabinet above the stove. "Did you enjoy watching Genevieve play with other men?"

"We swapped with other couples, yes, but she was more interested in unicorns."

Curious at the term, Jess lost focus and accidentally clinked one glass against another when putting it away. Closing that cabinet, she glanced over her shoulder at Gus. "Unicorns?"

"A single female playing on her own. Very rare, hard to catch. Just like the mythical unicorn."

"Oh." Jess felt her thoughts spinning. There was a tingle in her stomach that whispered what she wanted to do with all the new information. Resolutely though she bit her lip and finished her job.

In the early hours of the morning after Gus escorted her to her assigned hotel room as a club employee, Jess carefully hung the borrowed suit and shirt to air. She washed her bra and socks in the sink, spreading the socks out to dry on the room's air control unit and hung the bra on the showerhead. Finally she dug out her tank top and boy shorts and crawled onto the single bed. She twisted and turned until the sheets wrapped around her legs. Her eyes drifted closed with the cool feel of the ceiling fan's breeze on her face and chest. She wondered if Elena was a unicorn. She wondered how formally attached Elena and Eric were. She wondered if she could have sex with one of them, or both of them. She wondered if she could be a unicorn, too.

Sex with men or women littered her past as one-night stands. She had always become involved with only one person at a time and remembered having an argument once that being attracted to both men and women did not equate to needing orgies or threesomes. The idea had simply never turned her on.

However, the interactions tonight with Eric and Elena tonight had Jess vividly imagining scenarios where all three of them were satisfying entangled. She put her hands between her thighs and sifted through ideas as she teased her own folds.

Eric was a quiet personality, maybe even introverted. The artist within was definitely a primary aspect of his personality. He'd been thoughtful when they talked; interested in her, but also, just as clearly, he respected Jess. Physically, too, he was her type: not beanpole lean nor overly chunky. He was a little more refined than most of the men she'd slept with and older than most of them, too.

Then there had been the whirlwind that was Elena. The Latina had a bold, extroverted personality enticing to Jess like a moth to a flame. Jess could easily imagine the many hours of pulse-pounding sex to be shared with the brunette.

As she came on her own fingers, Jess decided, if Eric or Elena came to the club again, she would make it clear she was interested in more than a photo shoot.

.

Elena pulled the cocktail dress offer her arms and down her front. She made a long study of her body in the full-length mirror of the master bedroom. Thirty-five, she thought, judging the soft plain of her stomach curving down into her pelvis, and the sleek muscles of her runner's thighs. Not bad.

She heard the shower shut off and then the sounds of Eric moving aside the curtain and stepping out of the bathtub. Elena smiled at her reflection, and started to peel out of her lacy bra and stockings.

Still running warm after the night's activities; Elena relived their night at the club. It had been a while, since Eric's work schedule had become erratic. Carl was a satisfying fuck and lasted long enough that Elena had managed two nice orgasms before he pulled out and she sucked him off. They'd lain back together on the king-size mattress in the semi-private room where Carl and his wife, along with she and Eric, had come to play. Mutually stroking and considering another go, they watched Eric get sucked and then watched as he fucked Betty, bouncing reverse cowgirl, to a screamer. Elena hadn't been interested in more sex at the time, but now she was ready for Round Two.

Elena was bending over and rolling her stockings off her toes, her garter still on, when she felt Eric's slightly damp and warm hands spread over her exposed ass. She knew her vulva was easily visible between her legs, and Eric's sliding fingers massaged lower and lower until they dipped between her labia. She leaned forward, spreading out on the bed, and spread her feet to open herself more. Eric's one finger became two.

Her cunt throbbed. Eric added a third finger, then the thumb of his other hand curved underneath and stroked her clit. She demanded "more" with a moan.

"Flirting with that blonde bartender and fucking Carl wasn't enough tonight, huh?" he murmured. He leaned between her thighs and his soft cock rubbed between her ass cheeks.

She shook her head. "Finger me," she said.

"Did you like watching Betty suck my cock?" Eric asked. "Did you imagine teaching the bartender how I like it done?"

An image of Jess, the bartender Eric had introduced, flashed through Elena's mind's eye. The woman was shedding her suit and unbuttoning her shirt. A vision. Would Jess have just handful-sized tits or bountiful boobs? Elena had seen women in suits with both when it was uncovered; some liked to hide in androgyny, but some liked to flaunt the lines between male and female by wearing men's clothes but keep a feminine styling. She couldn't decide which type Jess might be. But the images were making her stomach quiver and her cunt hungry.

"Fuck me," Elena demanded breathlessly.

Eric now had three fingers pumping inside her. His thumb stroked just at the sides of her labia. "I think Jess could be interested," he murmured.

Eric knew how much she used her imagination in sex and he was still priming her. "Did you like seeing Betty rocking on my cock? Would you want to see me make Jess's breasts bounce? Or would you demand to fuck her first?"

Elena felt her passion rocket higher; Damn. Eric was hitting all her buttons now.

"Fuck, yes," she said, breathing hard. Her heart rapidly pounded; she moaned. Her imagination was fully charged. The memory of sweat glistening on Betty's skin made her nostrils flare as if she was filling her lungs once again with the scents of sex and sweat. Then the older blonde's face contorting in orgasmic pleasure morphed into Jess's face.

Eric now had four fingers in Elena and the sound and feel of the heel of his palm slapping her mound fed her desire even more.

"Loved the way she moved," Elena said, breathlessly. "Wanted to see her breasts so bad."

"Would you want to suck them?" he asked.

She licked her lips and squeezed her inner muscles on Eric's fingers. "Mmm hmm." When his fingers left her, she whimpered, incoherent and needy.

Eric replaced his fingers with his cock. Elena pushed up to her palms and straightened her arms. She pushed back with her hips and his penetrations deepened.

"Fuck," she growled. "Fuck me."

Wrapping his arms around her waist, Eric's forearms pressed up under her breasts. His hips slapped into her ass with each drive of his cock. Deeply and repeatedly he slammed full-length into her pulsing pussy.

"Eric," she breathed, mind spiraling on a sea of sensations.

"El." His moans joined hers. Then they both were coming. With staccato grunts, Eric held Elena still, Her muscles squeezed him and his cock released his ball's load.

Grinding back, Elena demanded more.

Eric continued moving in her, even while his cock softened. The irregular motion sent aftershocks through her quivering body. When the frantic feelings waned, her limbs became limp and her body heavy. Eric picked up Elena and settled her into the middle of the bed. She curled up, inhaling and exhaling when her overheated body came in contact with the cool cotton sheets.

Eric slid on the bed and spooned her before pulling the bedsheet over them both.

Before sleep completely took her brain offline, Elena wondered when they might go back to the club and gauge Jess's level of interest in spending some sexy time together.

 


	2. Chapter 2

Eric strode in quickly to the lobby of Club Caliente and spotted his friend Hector Melendez behind the registration desk. Hector and his wife Maya were the owners of the members-only adult sex club.

"Hey, Hector," Eric called.

Hector looked up from the papers he was shuffling and stood immediately, walking quickly out and around the doors and counter. "Ay, mi amigo! Your pictures are a hit!"

"So your message said," Eric confirmed, nodding. Hector was a bit shorter than him, so he kept a step or two back so neither of them had to awkwardly crane to look eye to eye. "It will be a good donation for the shelter, I hope."

"The buyer paid double for two of the prints, once I tell him they are one of a kind. This is your half." The club owner brandished a small wad of cash.

Eric looked at the folded bills Hector pressed into his hand. The outermost one was a one hundred dollar bill. Unfolding them, his eyes widened more and more as he added up the amounts in his head… "Six hundred dollars?"

"He purchased two."

Eric blinked. He tried to recall everyone he had talked to on Saturday night about his photo prints. "Which two?"

"I have them in the office. He gave me other money to ship them."

Eric eagerly followed Hector behind the registration counter to the hotel's business office. There, on the desk, were two of his canvas-printed photos. He was not surprised by the buyer's first choice, not really: Elena had posed on the beach but he had added layers in Photoshop to make it appear as if she was reclining, not on warm Miami Beach sand, but inside a giant clamshell. He'd named the photograph "My Latin Venus."

The other photo print was a more pedestrian piece of erotic photography and largly untouched: Elena sat in the middle of rumpled bedsheets he'd arranged on the floor of their home playroom. Her legs were spread and her elbows rested atop her bent knees. Her hands were folded underneath her chin, supporting her very direct look at the camera. Her expression was intense, as if daring the viewer to look away from her eyes to the dark hairs curling around her sex, or the hanging mounds of her unencumbered breasts. But Elena was smiling, too, as if knowing the temptation not to ravish her was probably too much. It was an arousing portrait of a woman who knew very well how attractive she was.

Eric looked again at the wad of bills in his hand. He could buy a few more art photography add-ins for Photoshop. "I should treat El to a night out," Eric said.

"So, good?" Hector asked.

"Incredible," Eric confirmed. He tucked the bills into his pocket. "And I definitely need a drink."

"Hotel's bar is already open," Hector said. "We have a new bartender on days. She overlaps with Gus for the after-work crowds."

Eric perked up. He immediately remembered Jess, and the blonde's polite receptiveness to his flirting. "Are you talking about Jess?"

"Yes. You met?"

"Saturday night at the opening."

"She does not seem your type," Hector said.

"I enjoy many types of women, my friend," Eric replied. "You know that."

"Ay, mi amigo, I do." Hector and his wife had been playmates of Eric's and Elena's frequently over the years. But, a couple years ago, Hector and Maya had gotten into BDSM play. While Eric and Elena had dabbled in bondage, they simply did not enjoy it enough to seek it out. From time to time though, Hector scheduled a BDSM for beginners seminar in one of the playrooms converted to a 'dungeon'.

Hector's words drew Eric's mind back. "Jess keeps to herself."

Eric had already guessed as much. "Well, I'm gonna get that drink. Then I have to get going. I have a hop to Falmouth tonight."

"You be safe up there," Hector said before sitting back down at his desk. Eric walked back out to the lobby and across it to the hotel bar.

Jess listened with half attention to the pair of businessmen having draft beers at the end of the bar. This area of Miami was such a hub for convention activity, she had already overheard enough to learn that both men were "looking for some action" before the end of some insurance conference. She had also discovered one had a wife and a two year old son. He was also a swinger of some experience and talked about having a "hall pass" from his wife, and money already set aside for playtime. The man with the Coors Light was single, however, and had lamented the pricing when he'd asked at the desk: "But single women get in damn near free."

"What do you have in bottles back there?"

Looking up from wiping the counter, Jess was immediately caught by blue eyes; she didn't hesitate to smile, immediately recognizing Eric. His good looks and his offer to shoot her had not far from her mind over the last four days. "Hi," she said. "You want a beer or something stronger?" She recalled he'd had scotch when at the nightclub.

"Just a beer. I have to fly tonight." Eric slid onto the stool in front of her.

Jess nodded and listed off the top dozen beers most men seemed to prefer. Eric chose a Shock Top. She retrieved the bottle, popped the cap, and presented it. "Anything else?"

"You got fries or chips?" he asked.

"Nachos with queso," she replied.

"I'll take an order of nachos then." His smile was warm and then quickly hidden behind the bottle as he lifted it to his mouth.

When she slid the nacho order in front of him, he looked down at it then back up at her. "Share with me?" he asked, then lifted up a nacho with a tidy bit of melted cheese in invitation.

Jess took it from his fingers with her own. "I shouldn't," she said, but she did, enjoying the easiness of Eric's smile.

"It's just one chip," he said easily, taking another from the plate for himself. For a moment there was only the sounds of crunching while they both chewed. Finally, Eric cleared his mouth with another swallow from his beer. "It's Jess, right?"

Jess nodded, fishing for her water bottle under the bar counter. When her mouth was clear, she dipped her head again. "You're Eric. Photographer."

"In my spare time," he answered. His smile disappeared behind his bottle again. "Speaking of, given any thought to my suggestion? My days off this week are Monday and Tuesday, so I am looking to shoot something." He finished his chips after a glance at his wristwatch. "Oops. I'll need my check."

While printing his check, Jess thought about how to respond. Now that the invitation had been repeated, she hesitated. Monday was a day off for her. She wondered if Eric knew that, or had simply guessed that because she worked late weekend hours, she was probably off on a weekday at some point.

Bringing the printout to him, she asked obliquely, "You're not shooting Elena?" He probably realized she was fishing for information about the brunette. Gus had pointed out how much people in this lifestyle appreciated clear communication. She wasn't comfortable being completely blunt; she hoped Eric would understand her question's dual layers: yes, I'm interested in doing this with you; I'm also interested in Elena.

"Elena is also free Monday," Eric replied. He pulled a cardboard coaster from a nearby stack and flipped it over to the unprinted back. "Call this number," he said, scribbling a number. "We'll set things up." He set the pen down across the coaster, stood, swallowed the last of his beer and, finally, he smiled warmly at her. "I gotta fly."

.

It took two, almost three, days before Jess made the call, though she had decided, yes, to seize the opportunity several times. The first time happened at 3 a.m. after closing the bar. Then she'd decided when on a lunch break, not really noon, and not dinner time, but she didn't want to be calling when Eric was working. She definitely did not call after imagining Elena and Eric between her legs then her between theirs. She'd fingered herself to orgasm unstead in the middle of her bed, as dawn barely seeped in between the window blinds.

It was just about seven p.m. on Friday night. Jess wasn't due to start her shift in the bar until eight. Now, she thought, was the perfect time. She'd snagged a wrap of meats and cheeses from the kitchen and warned it in her in-room microwave. She was showered and she was dressed, so she wouldn't entertain thoughts of jilling off to the sound of Eric's voice on the other end. She lifted the coaster close and input the numbers into her cell phone. She had not wanted to make the call from the hotel's line, so, with her first paycheck in hand, she'd purchased a refurbished one and set up a cash-card account plan.

Jess listened to the line ring, heart thrumming.

"Hello, you've reached the Tan-"

Sharply inhaling at the sound of the female voice, Jess pulled the phone from her ear and ended the call with a hard poke. She tossed her cell phone onto the bed and jumped up, turning in the small space to stare at the device. Elena!

Before she could process further, her cell phone sounded, indicating an incoming call. Jess saw it was the same number she had called.

_You want this, you idiot! She's calling back. Be honest. You were going to tell Eric yes. So tell her you want to meet up._

Jess exhaled and then fortified herself with a steadying inhale. She lifted the phone, pressing the green button as she did. "Hello?"

"I just had a call from this number?" Elena sounded puzzled.

"Hi. I…yeah. I…you probably don't...remember...me." Jess paused in her stuttering, inhaled and exhaled, and willed herself to be braver. "I'm…the bartender from Caliente? I…my name's Jessica?"

"Jessica?" Elena hesitated. "Oh, Jess. Hi."

Jess' heart rate slowed marginally as she absorbed the other woman's light, and pleased, tone. She tried not to sound like an idiot. "I…uh, Eric came by the bar earlier this week."

"Did he leave something?"

"No, well, yes. He left me this number. Said I should call to set up…a shoot. Maybe? I guess? Yes," Jess finished, trying to sound more certain. "I'd like to do it."

Elena's hum came through the line, and slithered down Jess's ear, into her throat, her chest, and then coiled, like a warm baby rabbit fidgeting to get comfy, in the pit of her stomach.

"When?" Elena finally spoke.

Just as had happened on Saturday night, Jess was unable to immediately respond, luxuriating in the sound.

But talking on a phone was not the same as talking with a person at a bar. When the silence went too long, Elena's voice came tentatively on the line, "Jess? Are you still there?"

Blinking, Jess answered quickly. "Eric said something about being off Monday and Tuesday. I'm off -" She hesitated before adding eagerly 'both days' and chose one. "Monday," she finished.

Elena's reply set off entirely new flutters in Jess's body. "Monday will be wonderful. He can pick you up on his way from the airport."

"Oh." Jess had been expecting an address, planning to figure out the Miami public transit to get to some photography studio in the city. "What…anything in particular I should…wear?" she finished weakly.

"That suit you wore Saturday night will be wonderful. Anything else, I can loan you. Eric'll have to shower and change when he gets home, too."

"Oh," Jess saw her opening. "Maybe I should come separately…later then?"

"Oh, no, we are all coming together," Elena said, and her tone was equal parts laughter and seduction. The warm flicker of attraction Jess had felt to the brunette from Saturday night flared to hot life. "It's a date. Monday. Expect Eric around two. He'll ask for you at the desk."

"Okay." Afterward the line was quiet and Jess held her breath.

"I look forward to seeing you again, Jess," Elena finished. Another moment of silence followed then, before Jess could find words, she heard the line close.

The phone tumbled to the bed from Jess's numb hand. Holy shit, she thought, falling backward against the bed. I have a date. A hot date, if Elena's tone was anything to go on. She replayed the conversation over and over again, closing her eyes and breathing deeply.

An alarm startled her, signaling that Jess needed to report for her shift. Her legs were shaking when she pushed to her feet. She wondered idly, but with an excitement she hadn't felt in years, if she would be able to walk after Monday's activities. If just talking with Elena left her shaking, what would she do when - and she knew now with certainty it was when, not if - they had sex?

Elena ended the call when Jess did not reply. She bit her lip trying to interpret Jess's few words and barely audible reactions. She had heard the other woman's breath catch several times and heard the stumbles when she was speaking. She had thought the blonde's honesty with the drink recipe endearing, but now she wondered if Jess was too naive to really know what she wanted, despite being clearly swayed by Elena's flirting. It wouldn't be the first time Elena had miscalculated a prospective partner's experience.

The shower shut off, pulling Elena from her thoughts. Eric emerged from the master bath into their bedroom, his towel tucked around his waist and his chest hairs still matted and damp. He looked at her still holding the landline's wireless handset in her hand. She answered his unspoken question: "You gave Jess our number?"

"She finally called." Eric smiled.

"I don't think she thought the number you gave was to the house. She hung up when I started speaking."

"She call back?"

Elena shook her head. "I called the number back." She looked down at the handset again then looked up at Eric. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"She's obviously new at this," Eric agreed. "But we're all just going to have some fun. She agreed to a photo shoot. So that's what we'll do."

Elena groaned. "I think I just complicated things."

"How?" He sat next to her and she couldn't help but inhale his clean scent and felt it steady her.

"I told her you'd pick her up at the club, ask for her at the desk. When she suggested she come later…" Elena's voice trailed away, and she felt her cheeks warm. "I said 'we'd all come together'."

Eric laughed. "My seductress." He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and kissed her head. "You just keep being you, sweetheart. Jess is gonna have fun, and I'm pretty sure she's capable of making her own calls to stop. Go."

"Or go slow," Elena finished, her voice chorusing with his, as they completed their mantra together. As the words faded away, Elena smiled, once more feeling hopeful. "Monday can't come soon enough," she added.

"For Jess either, I'm sure," Eric said, again kissing her temple.

She leaned into his chest, resting her palm there and feeling his steady heartbeat. "What should I set up while you're away?"

"Weather's expected to be nice. Not too hot, and not raining. Why not plan a few nibbles around the pool?" She shot him a glance and he smirked. "Hey, I can't help my mind wanders to some pretty nice pictures with her and you."

"You'd be shooting outside. So you won't need the lighting kits, unless we go until after sundown." He nodded. Elena continued, "Maybe I could put a float or two on the pool." She considered the state of the furnishings on the stone patio around the in-ground pool. "I'll run the pool cleaner. I should also clean the lounges with some Clorox, and buy new tanning lotion." She shook her head. "No, sunblock would be better. She is blond and light-skinned."

"Should I make sure she brings a swimsuit?" Eric asked.

"You might tell her we have a pool. She is expecting some clothing changes for the photos. I told her to come in that suit from Saturday night. I also said I had things she could change into."

"You do like the way a good-looking woman wears a suit," Eric remarked.

Elena could not deny it. She had first seen Jess across the room talking with Eric as she mixed the drinks. The first thing, after her blonde hair, that Elena had noticed had been the crisp white shirt collar and the soft shoulder lines of the black suit jacket. She'd drunk in the woman's appearance as she neared. Leaning close to change her drink order had also been when Elena first inhaled the woman's scent: "slightly sweaty, all-natural woman" was her favorite perfume.

.


	3. Chapter 3

Though she had asked what to wear to the shoot and been told to wear her work suit, Jess studied her paltry selection of clothes strewn on the made bed in her hotel room for something more appropriate. But what she owned were two pairs of extremely worn jeans, knees with holes and tattered hems from wearing them in bare feet. Her few shirts were tees and tanks of varying stretched and torn conditions. Her only button down was a long-sleeve men's style large she'd pilfered from a previous bedmate. She definitely didn't want to be wearing that, she thought. Even slightly rumpled from her shift the night before, the suit and its accompanying button-down white shirt were the best choices for a professional photo shoot.

Semi-professional, she corrected. Eric had pointed out that photography was only his hobby. Jess had gathered from the brief interaction at the bar that he had some other job which frequently took him out of town. Elena, too, had pointed out he would be picking Jess up "on his way back from the airport."

The hotel's bedside phone rang. Pushing her hair back from her face - she hadn't decided on up or down yet - Jess grabbed the handset. "Hello?"

Mr. Melendez said, "Eric Tanner is here. Says he's meeting you?"

"Yes," Jess answered quickly. "I'll be out front in a minute."

"Of course."

Jess looked at herself critically again and, grabbed a hair clip. Several cursory pulls of a comb and she wrapped the hair in and around the clip. With her hair off her face, she thought her thin face looked a little rounder, and her cheeks looked a little less hollow. She met her own gaze in the mirror and noticed the wideness of her pupils from being in the dim lighting of the hotel room. Foregoing sunglasses, she blinked into the afternoon sunlight and then walked quickly along the corridor and open-air walkways to the front of the club.

Her boss was nowhere to be found when she entered the lobby though she didn't look very hard. Mr. Melendez made her uneasy. Gus had negotiated her shift to bartending. Originally she was assigned room cleaning duties.

Gaze moving around the lobby she found where Eric had settled in a chair, holding open a copy of the local paper. His body and attention were angled away from her, so she walked quietly up and looked over his shoulder. The page held comics. That made her smile, reinforcing that Eric was far from old and stuffy. She might have had to rethink her attraction to him if he'd been reading the business section.

He looked up and caught her gaze. "Hi."

"Hi," Jess said. "Do you have a favorite?"

"Classic Peanuts," he answered. "Yours?"

Jess had no idea. She had been through so many cities, and even though she mostly read local papers to look for want ads, she had seen so many different comic strips. She glanced over his shoulder and randomly selected one which looked colorful and funny. "That one."

"Interesting," Eric said. Then he put down the paper and stood up. "You ready to go have some fun? Oh, she told me to tell you we have a pool. And she's preparing some lunch."

Jess hesitated. "Are we still taking photos?"

"I hope so." Eric added, "But there's no reason we can't eat, or have a swim?"

Jess shook her head. "Where exactly are we going?"

"My equipment's all at the house."

"So, the number you gave me was…"

"My house, yes." Eric held the door for her as they started out to the parking lot. He blocked her way and his expression was serious. Jess relaxed further with every word he spoke:

"Look, if you're not into something, you say no. At any time. I can go home now, and leave you here. But, honestly, I'd like to get to know you more. Elena would too."

"You picked me up in a bar," Jess pointed out.

"Technically it was a photo gallery and yes, I think you're very sexy," Eric pointed out. "I know you also are into Elena. So, I thought I'd bring you together. See what magic happens."

Jess asked, "What do you get out of this?"

"A new friend, and maybe a few pretty pictures," he answered. "Nothing more is expected." After a moment, he checked again, "So? You okay?"

Jess looked back at the hotel lobby, then to the parking lot. She knew almost no one in Miami outside her job, and almost no women; Maya, Hector's wife, was head of the housekeeping staff and didn't have anything to do with the bar, so they'd barely spoken two words.

Could this begin something new for her? For the first time in years, Jess could honestly say "I made some friends, went out, and had some fun" and not have to make up a story to cover going to some random bar and picking up a drunken one-night stand to scratch her itch. Even though, she realized, this one had started out the same way, there was definitely something different about Eric and Elena.

She knew too, that going off with someone to their home, could put her in an iffy situation. When she met Eric's eyes again, she saw he was calm; she didn't sense anything more than honesty from his waiting posture. "Will you tell me more about you and Elena while we drive?"

Eric smiled wide and nodded. "I can absolutely do that." He stepped off the curb and led Jess to an ocean-green convertible coupe. "Weather is perfect for the top down."

Jess slid into the passenger seat while he held open the door for her.

"Most of the time El drives it. I usually use public transit, or she drops me off at the airport. But I only had a sixteen-hour run. She told me to drive myself to the airport in it, so I'd be able to pick you up today."

"El lives with you then?"

Eric started up the engine and then paused as, apparently, he finished processing her words. "Um, you know that Elena and I are married, right?"

"I thought she was your model."

"She is. We've also been married for six years."

"So you are what Gus called 'unicorn hunters'."

Eric laughed. "Are you a unicorn?"

Jess shrugged. "Meeting you on Saturday, I enjoyed myself. You're really interesting. And Elena…" Her voice trailed off as she again thought about the feelings simple near-contact with the dark-haired woman brought. She felt her cheeks heat a little. "I did get hot thinking about you, and Elena…and me, well, doing something." She cleared her throat. "I sort of figured that's where this was going."

"We can go there. And, for the record, I was flirting with you on Saturday. El's just much more direct than I am." Eric let out a noise that sounded like indulgent laughter, and that, more than even his words earlier, made Jess relax.

"So, Elena wants us to have sex?"

"Yes. She's really hot for you." A note in Eric's voice suggested he was somewhat in awe of his wife's attraction to Jess.

"Does she pick up women often?" Jess felt emotion knot her throat. Wow, she thought when unexpected moisture welled in her eyes. "She was…intense. And, on the phone. She is…direct."

"Too much?" Eric asked.

Because it was clear now that Eric expected thoughtful, truthful answers, Jess considered seriously how to put her many emotions succinctly. She started with an honest admission. "I've done one night stands. I have had sex with, well, quite a few people. But I've never done this before, had more than one night in mind. But, I want to experience new things…I feel…excited." She breathed out and felt a giddy twitch in her stomach. "So, no, not too much."

Eric smiled. "She'll be glad to know that, so be sure to tell her."

Jess looked down at her hands in her lap and saw her work clothes again. "How explicit are the photos?" she asked.

"Anything you like. Since you say you've never done anything like this, I'm interested in what you would want. Boudoir is a very intimate style of photography, so we can start with just making you look good enough to eat."

"Elena said I could wear this," Jess said, gesturing to her work suit.

"I know. She told me. She's got a thing for women who wear suits as well as you do."

"It's not even mine," Jess said, fingering the lapel now. "I got it from Gus, the lead bartender, for my first night. I only have jeans. Maya helped me by sewing a few strategic tucks into it."

"It's obviously yours now. Gus certainly couldn't wear it again," Eric said. "I agree with El," he added. At a stoplight, he turned his head and his blue eyes steadied her. "You do look good in it."

She nodded, accepting the compliment.

The car made a turn and bumped over a road separation. Jess looked out the side window and realized they had entered a suburban neighborhood. Spanish and Caribbean styles dominated the choices in structure and décor. Too, there were the ubiquitous bars on most windows and doors. Gardens of tropical flowers filled many front lawns and those that weren't filled with flowers had been artfully bricked. From what she could see, rear yards were privacy fenced and contained screened enclosures for pools.

Eric pulled up a driveway that curled around the side of a one-story house with a mud-red Spanish tile roof. The tan stucco had dark brown faux sills under each window and the roof was lined with dark brown aluminum gutters. Neat, narrow beds of annuals lined the curved brick walkway leading to the front stoop. Instead of bars on the street-facing windows and door, each window had white hurricane drop-shutters. The front door was dark brown, and next to it was a picture window, also edged in a dark brown ridge of stucco. The curtains were closed, likely to block the midday sun. The driveway circled to the east side of the house, around a tall and wide, but neatly trimmed bush.

When the car engine had been turned off, Jess stepped out onto the driveway in front of a closed roll-up garage door. Next to her back yard was hidden from sight by eight-foot-high white PVC. She looked up and down its length and saw no gate.

"No side entrance increases the privacy," Eric said.

"Oh. Yeah. Of course." Jess shook herself. "You have a very nice home."

He gestured for her to come with him. "Wait'll you see the inside. I've done a lot of the remodeling myself. And Elena loves decorating."

Jess walked around the back of the car, meeting Eric at the end of the walk that led back around to the front. She hadn't realized until that moment that part of her trepidation was being treated as a 'secret' in some way. Eric was taking her in through the front door.

The walk passed between gardens of flowers and the front door was 'guarded' by a pair of twin palms only a bit taller than the house's roof. The fronds formed an arch shading the front stoop. Jess waited behind Eric while he unlocked the door and stepped across the threshold. He then held it open for her to enter.

"Welcome to Casa del Tanner," he said.

Jess looked around the entry area while scuffing her boots on the entry rug. She saw Eric take his shoes off and line them up with others in the corner. Sitting on a tiny bench by the door, she followed his example and removed her boots. She curled her toes in her socks out of sight under the leg of the pants and fretted about the hole she knew she had in one heel. She was debating if she should take off her socks when she heard footsteps.

"Hi."

Jess looked up to see Elena walking toward them wearing an hourglass summer dress. The white fabric had geometric patches of overlapping colors. The brunette wore no stockings or shoes. When Jess's gaze lifted again to meet Elena's eyes, the brunette continued, "I'm glad you came." Elena's cheeks reddened at the same time Jess caught the double entendre. Quickly apologetic, Elena held out her hand and restated, "I mean, Jess, it's really nice to see you. Again."

Jess stood from the bench. Without her boots, Jess and Elena were very close in height and their gazes continued to hold. She took Elena's offered hand, and the slenderness and smoothness of it was almost as intoxicating to Jess's sense of touch as the woman's voice was to her ears. She resisted closing her eyes. Instead she turned when she felt Eric moving close past her. She stepped forward to make room for him and Elena's fingers skimmed her wrist and their bodies brushed before Elena stepped back.

Breaking the intensity of the moment, Eric said, "I'm going to get a beer, you want something?" Jess blinked and found him standing in the archway deeper inside the house. "Jess?"

"I..Actually, I'm not really a beer drinker," Jess said.

"Wine? Water?" Elena suggested.

"Water, please."

Elena's hand slipped away. Jess followed the couple into the kitchen of their home, feeling her nerves settle.

"You haven't been here long?" Eric asked. "What brought you to Florida?"

"Looking for something new," Jess said. "Gus calls me a free spirit, but really, I'm a drifter. And I'd sort of grown into the rootless life."

"You're not very old." Elena asked.

"If you're fishing, I'm 25. I gather both of you are in your thirties?"

"I'm 38," Eric concurred, "I graduated from high school in Dubuque, and enlisted in the Air Force."

"Are you in the reserves?" Jess asked.

"Retired. I'm a pilot now for Diligent Air."

"Oh, now the 'gotta fly' makes sense." Jess laughed and the sound made Elena smile. "What about you? Where have you modeled?"

"I don't actually model. Except in Eric's pictures. We find the photo shoots, like the swinging, add spice to our sex life. I used to work as a flight attendant."

"That's how we met, actually," Eric said. "At a layover party."

"What's a layover party?"

"When flight crews fly long-distance routes and stay overnight in a city, some of us get together. The more domestic ones plan sightseeing if it's someplace cool." He crushed his now-empty beer can, walked over to a low cabinet in the kitchen, pulled out something, and tossed it in. "More often though we crowd into one big hotel suite and have sex," Eric finished as he turned back. He smiled at both her and Jess. "I'm gonna shower. Then, I believe, we have a picnic on the deck?"

Elena nodded. "Just some finger foods. I thought we'd all prefer to eat light." When Eric left, Elena moved forward after him. Now she was close enough to Jess that she again smelled the woman's scent. "You want to take a dip in the pool, Jess?" she asked, covering her inhale.

"I didn't expect to go swimming," Jess said.

"You can borrow one of my suits, if you want." Jess shook her head. Elena nodded. "OK. Let me know if you change your mind." She was pleased when Jess followed her out the sliding doors to the pool.

Elena went to the pool's clean trap and emptied it into the garden. "Have a seat," she suggested when she turned.

Jess's hands had gone into her pants pockets as she looked around at the deck chairs, lounges, and the deck box. "It's really nice," Jess said.

"Thanks." To encourage Jess to sit and return to the relaxed connection she experienced back in the kitchen, Elena moved to the deck chair closest to where the blonde stood and sat down. Jess's gaze traced her stretched out legs. Elena gestured. "Here."

Finally, Jess sat on the edge of a lounge chair and looked at the water. "Nice," Jess said again.

"You sure you don't want to get wet?" Jess's eyes widened. This time, instead of covering her double entendre, Elena silently cheered. The woman's mind was so obviously on naked thoughts. So, Elena decided: nothing ventured, nothing gained. Quietly she said, "The privacy fence allows for my skinny dipping habit."

Clear green eyes locked on her face, hungry and searching. Elena felt Jess's desire as a suddenly palpable touch. With a need to connect, Elena reached out to Jess's hand gripping the side of the lounge chair.

Suddenly, they were both standing and Jess's grip on her hand pulled their bodies together. Swimming in Jess's green gaze, Elena's blood pounded in her ears. She licked her lips. Jess's mouth pressed over hers, heat and hunger, and wet, and soft, and oh, fuck, Elena moaned. She gripped Jess's hand harder and felt the slight sting of nails. She inhaled Jess's scent and opened her mouth to fully experience the taste of her.

They weren't wrestling, but Jess appeared to want the same thing as Elena: to get as close as possible. She pulled her hand from Jess's grip and grasped the woman's suit jacket lapels. She stumbled; Jess moved back, and Elena followed.

Abruptly, both women were falling. Elena jerked when her body hit the water. Her dress was lightweight cotton, but when soaked it felt heavier. Her hair matted to her head but thankfully did not block her eyes.

Elena splashed until she righted herself and spotted the ladder, swimming over to it. Jess was a stroke behind, but the woman's work suit had half fallen off her shoulders, not letting her arms have full range of motion. "Take your jacket off," Elena said.

Treading water, Jess worked her arms out of the jacket, tossing it onto the deck. Then Jess pulled herself out of the pool using the ladder. Crouched by the handrail picking up the jacket, Jess had her chest level with Elena's gaze. The soaked shirt had plastered to her skin and her bra was clearly visible beneath it.

"I'm sorry," Elena said. "I'll have your suit dry cleaned."

"Looks like I'll be borrowing some clothes anyway," Jess said as she looked down at herself.

"I thought I was the only one getting wet." Eric's voice made both women turn. He stood in the open sliding door in cargo-style tan shorts and a Hawaiian print button up shirt. His hair was damp, but he'd combed it.

The cool breeze chilled and tightened Elena's nipples against her soaked dress. Eric said, "Why don't you and Jess find dry clothes." He walked up to both of them, and Elena was relieved to see Jess only dip her head instead of looking embarrassed or protesting. "I'll set up."

It was then Elena noticed he had one of his smaller digital cameras in his hands. Had he snapped pictures of them? She met his eyes, and he gave a twist of his lips and a wink.

Carrying Jess's suit jacket, Elena went to the deck box and removed two towels from the plastic bin inside. "Here. Wrap this around you."

Jess did, but then she removed her pants from underneath the tucked in towel. "I'll drip less water on your floor," she said.

Elena took the pants and the jacket and wrapped them in another towel. Eric collected those. "I'll deliver these to the laundry."

"They should be dry cleaned," Elena said.

"Yeah, but they can hang out there for a bit," Eric said. "Now, both of you go change."

His hand on her shoulder warmed her and steadied her. She looked at Jess. Whatever was happening, it was all good if Jess was still here and not demanding to leave.

"C'mon, I'll show you to the guest bathroom."

.

Dressed in a pair of Elena's dark blue deck shorts and a borrowed Caribbean dashiki, which hid the fact that she had taken off her bra because it had also been soaked through. Jess reached for a napkin after finishing another meat and cheese laden cracker and wiped her mouth. Next to her, Elena smiled and then stood. As the brunette walked around behind her, Jess felt a simple touch slide over one shoulder blade toward the middle of her spine.

Someone else might not have noticed it, but Jess was peculiar about touch; she hadn't had much of it in her life that was simple connective contact. She was more familiar with purely sexual touch. Elena's touch was something in-between. She was clearly intensely attracted to Jess physically, but also somewhat restraining herself in showing it.

Jess was sure Elena didn't think she'd noticed. The touches were light, and always in passing as the brunette moved behind her, retrieving this or that item from the far end of the table. Eric sat across from Jess and his eyes followed his wife each time she got up. So when the sensation like static electricity discharge first slid down Jess's spine, from her nape to the small of her back, she'd recognized it for what it was: awareness of Elena.

As for Jess, yes, she was extremely attracted to Elena as well. Every thought, word, or deed seemed to carry more than one intention; she couldn't help herself. The dousing in the pool had done nothing to cool her arousal.

If anything, the fall in the pool had simply told her that, yes, sex would happen. Elena had apologized profusely every time she came to the guest bathroom door. They had mutually gotten lost in their kisses. A simple recall of the feelings of Elena's body against hers in those brief seconds before hitting the water made her nipples tingle and her clit twitched against her borrowed clothes, the stimulation made her squirm on the bench.

Elena's fingers briefly tangled in the ends of her hair when Jess moved. After finger-combing through it after the shower, Jess had decided to let her hair dry loose across her shoulders and back. Pulling her fingers away, Elena's face held apology as she resumed her seat. Jess simply finished the cheese wedge she had been chewing.

"Everything is so good," Jess said and licked the tips of her fingers. For a moment, Jess thought about other flavors she could have. Her cheeks warmed. Neither Eric nor Elena had indicated that they wanted to move on to sex yet.

In fact, they both seemed to simply be enjoying eating and talking. Eric had explained more about his work as a pilot. Elena had explained why she left the airline. They seemed to simply want her to get to know them.

It was a novel idea: to have friends, to be friends with those you would have sex with. Anonymous and shallow had been her style for so many years, Jess could only remember the name of one person she'd had sex with in the last seven years. That was unavoidable; she had to write it on several documents after he'd vanished.

But now, Jess not only had, it seemed, two friendships starting. She would have proof of it, too. Eric had promised her several prints from today. Eric had been snapping pictures of she and Elena ever since they walked back out to the pool area. He'd gotten Elena to laugh and pose a couple times in a baby blue terrycloth jumper that was closed (mostly) by velcro up the front. A small opening at the woman's throat highlighted the woman's dainty collarbones, and the curves of her breasts showed through a mid-chest gape as she leaned forward over her food.

Jess watched Eric, across the table, looking through the collection of shots on his camera's preview screen now. He still nibbled, but in between he meticulously cleaned his fingers on wet naps. She was drawn repeatedly to the smooth ruffling of his mustache against the cracker surface. Then she would be drawn to his fingers moving against the camera screen. Obviously he was saving some photos and discarding others. He'd said that was one of the reasons he liked digital photography. She was curious what the camera had captured. She and Elena had been bringing out the trays of fingers foods from the kitchen so often, Jess seldom saw Eric actually snapping pictures.

While putting various cracker stacks on her plate before she sat down to eat she had actually posed once. Eric had called her to turn around so he could capture her hair in motion. She did, tossing her hair and spreading her hand across her hip as she had seen Elena do.

He'd complimented her on her loose hair then. She'd revealed her quandary before he'd picked her up, of whether to wear it up or down. Taking the camera down from his eye, he said, "Next time, you can leave it down."

She'd glowed at that. The idea of a next time pleased her. She looked from Eric to Elena. She shifted closer t the brunette, who sensed the motion and looked up.

It wasn't awkward at that moment when Jess gazed into deep brown eyes. Elena swallowed what she had been chewing and smiled. Jess smiled back. Motion out of the corner of her eye turned her head to see Eric moving the camera away from his face. He'd taken another photo, this time of the two of them.

"May I see them?" she asked. "Before you make prints?"

"Of course," Eric agreed. "We can call tonight 'dinner and a show'."

Elena said, "There's a multimedia big screen TV in our living room. He hooks the camera right up to it."

"We'll have to go inside soon," Eric said as he wiped crumbs from his mustache. He was looking off at the sky behind Jess and Elena with a critical eye. "Afternoon rains look to be moving in."

Jess stood and stepped back, out of the bench, and started collecting plates and condiments. Elena went to the end of the table and stacked other things onto trays. Eric gathered his equipment, which they hadn't actually used. Jess felt briefly sad about the missed opportunity for more outdoor shots.

Eric reached Jess, following Elena, before they entered the house. He leaned forward, and spoke. "How're you doing?"

Jess looked over her shoulder and found his eyes smiling at her. "I'm having a really good time," she replied honestly.

"Good," he said. "C'mon, let's look at some pictures." He moved around her, his hand brushing her back.

Jess leaned into his touch. There had been boys in the group homes, older "brothers" at foster homes, and men who she'd joined in hotel rooms for quickie sex. Eric wasn't like any of them. She knew he was attracted to her and wanted to have sex with her. He had said as much. But he wasn't urgent or pushy; he seemed content to be sociable. Being the recipient of the attention of a mature man was a new and novel feeling. Jess smiled at him and followed Eric inside the house.

In the kitchen, Elena said, "I have banana pudding for dessert."

Jess declined. "Maybe later."

Elena offered another bottle of water instead which Jess accepted, though for the moment she didn't open the bottle. Eric held up a wine bottle from a rack just outside the kitchen. "Chocolate wine," he said.

When Jess and Elena both nodded; Eric served three shot glasses from the bottle. Handing one to each of them, he tapped and toasted, "Here's to some very lovely shots already."

After downing his shot, Eric said, "You ladies follow when you're ready. I'll go connect the camera."

The living room was white leather. A love seat, chaise, and padded footstool faced a faux fireplace. A half dozen 4x6 framed pictures had been set on a shelf above it. The wall above held a flatscreen TV. Eric set his camera on the mantel and connected a cable dangling down from the back of the screen.

Elena gestured for Jess to sit and she chose one side of the love seat. Eric perched on the footstool while manipulating a couple different remotes and occasionally reaching up and pressing a button on his camera.

Jess looked from Eric to Elena and sipped her shot of chocolate wine. Make a move if you want something, Jess's mind whispered. She shifted and suggested, "There's a spot here." She was glad she had spoken up when Elena accepted the invitation and settled beside her.

Eric hadn't cleared his camera's card before the afternoon, and the first several shots reminded Jess why she had accepted Eric's invitation. Elena in various states of undress filled the huge screen in shot after shot. The dark-haired seductress was in full view. Her tawny skin contrasted with a crisp white top. In each successive shot the fabric parted further and further, until her breasts were on full display. No tan lines, Jess noted. Clearly, Elena didn't just skinny dip, but did a little nude sunbathing, too. Then her gaze began to take in the rest of the woman's body. Light played across generous hips and shadows hid the treasure between her thighs. Arousal rising, Jess licked her lips.

Elena shifted, and Jess felt the woman's leg move against hers. Jess cast a side glance and saw Elena putting her shot glass to her lips, color deepening on her cheeks. The woman downed the rest of her chocolate wine in a single shot. The move suggested she was bolstering herself to take some action. Jess waited, her breath caught in anticipation.

She moved her hand from the leather to Elena's thigh. The terrycloth of Elena's jumper had ridden up, and Jess's fingers brushed warm skin stretched over tight muscle.

"Okay, here we are." Eric's voice broke the silence. "Today's photos."

Jess looked back up at the screen; Elena's fingers laced with hers as daylight-bright photos faded in and out onscreen. Each photo showed long enough for Jess to study many details. She was again awed by Eric's skill. Elena's gaze, seldom direct at the camera, was filled with such identity. It wasn't until Jess's first picture appeared that she realized, in many of the pictures Eric had taken Elena had been looking at her.

In this photo, Jess was emerging from the house wearing the borrowed dashiki and shorts. She had turned to close the sliding glass door behind her. She glanced at him remembering his request at the table during the meal for her to pose. He was "an ass man" through and through. She laughed lightly. When she felt her fingers squeezed she turned her head to see that Elena was smiling at her.

Being purely objective, Jess could admit she did look good. She hadn't worn properly fitting clothes in so long, she'd forgotten her own figure wasn't boyish. Add her hair down, and Jess was able to understand why Elena now held her hand and Eric smiled indulgently at the two of them sitting together on the loveseat. If she needed any proof that he and Elena wanted her sexually, here it was.

In the next photo, Jess had noticed the camera. She had put on a pose, fingers in her mouth, pulling them out one by one as she sucked off the sauce from a carrot dipped in ranch dressing. She'd always thought her hands, work-rough as they were, not her best feature, but there, displayed against her lips, she thought maybe they weren't too bad. Her nails were clean, short, and smooth. The tendons showing in relief suggested they were strong hands. On the leather between them Elena's fingers caressed hers, and she decided she would buy some lotion.

The photoshow continued. Eric had captured many pictures over the trio's two hours spent outside. She remembered posing for some, and watching Elena pose for others. Still more, though, were random captures when apparently neither she or Elena was looking. In one,

Finally, the one that Eric had captured as Elena and Jess's gazes met appeared onscreen. It wasn't the last, but even after it faded from sight, and was replaced, the image remained in Jess's mind.

That look they shared was, she knew, the same before the kiss which had sent them stumbling into the pool. The heat between her and Elena was as physical as the woman's hand now in hers.

On the loveseat now, Jess turned her head; Elena leaned toward her. Lips gently touched and shifted. Jess felt no fervor, just warm communion. When she pulled back Jess followed Elena's gaze to Eric who was frowning.

"My camera's still connected to the damn TV," he grumbled.

They laughed; so did Eric.

Jess finally finished her shot of the chocolate wine. When the pictures had finished, Eric removed the camera from the cable. Watching his fingers move nimbly, she wondered what was next. Her thoughts were scattered by the alcohol, and she'd started to lean into Elena's shoulder. The terrycloth of Elena's jumper made her cheek tingle. She brushed at the sensation, even as Eric moved closer, his camera once again snapping away.

She frowned. He stopped clicking, lowered the camera, and asked, "Is this all right?"

"M fine," she murmured. "Feeling good."

"Maybe too good," Elena said. "I think you're falling asleep."

Jess tried to push herself upright, to deny that she was tired. She was enjoying the ebb and flow of emotions. Everything was excitingly new and, yet, blissful comfort stole into her limbs.

Eric put down the camera and reached for her hand; without hesitation, Jess grasped it. She came to her feet, swayed a little, and smiled at him. He smiled back. She looked back over her shoulder to see that Elena, too, was getting up. The brunette's hands moved to the small of Jess's back. Eric kissed her forehead; Jess sighed. She reached behind her and drew Elena's hands onto her hips, then covered the quivering in her stomach. Full lips touched the back of her neck; she breathed deeply.

"Bed sounds like a good idea," she said, and a brief image of the three of them tumbling onto sheets poured adrenaline into her veins that argued with the exhaustion. "Don't want to go," she added. Stepping back, she looked from one to the other sincerely. "I've had a really good time."

"There's nothing stopping us from doing it again," Eric said. "I'll drive you back to the club."

"I'll bring your work suit by tomorrow," Elena said as she followed Jess, leaning on Eric, to the front door. "After it's dry cleaned."

Jess leaned away from Eric and kissed Elena again. "I'm really glad I came," she said.

The brunette's gaze turned dark and seductive and her lips twitched. "Not yet," Elena said.

Feeling loose and good, Jess laughed. "Not yet."

Eric picked his keys up from a tray by the door. After he'd opened the door Elena held Eric's arm above the wrist and their gazes intersected silently before she kissed him. "Take care of her," Elena said.

"Of course," he replied.

Elena stood in the doorway after Jess and Eric had started down the walk, back to the side of the house and the car. "Good night, Jess."

Jess let Eric's hand go and hurried back up to the doorway. She held Elena's hand. "Tomorrow?" she said.

"Would you like to do lunch?" Elena suggested.

"Yes," Jess answered. Then she searched Elena's gaze, the invitation, she hoped, crystal clear. The brunette cupped Jess's face in both hands and held her in place while her lips pressed searchingly over Jess's. When Jess's lips parted, seeking small breaths, the tip of Elena's tongue made Jess's head spin for reasons that had absolutely nothing to do with the alcohol she had consumed.

"Yes," Elena echoed.

On wobbly legs, Jess hurried back to Eric's side. Tomorrow couldn't come soon enough.

Just barely after sunset twilight gave the area a soft glow when Eric pulled up to the front of the Caliente property. For autumn in Florida that meant it was only a little after eight in the evening. Jess sat for a moment in the seat of the convertible before moving. It was obvious to Eric that she was reluctant to let things end. He reached past the gear shift with care. When his hand touched hers, she didn't startle. She smiled at him. He smiled in return.

"I really had a good time," Jess said again. She seemed at a loss for words. "The ride cleared my head, you know. We could…" Her voice trailed off.

Eric brushed his thumb around the back of her hand, and remembered watching Elena's hand tucked around Jess's just the same way. Jess looked down with him to their linked hands, and then she was leaning toward him.

She brushed his bottom lip with both of hers in a feather-light kiss. He smiled into the contact. Letting her lead, he was pleasantly delighted when she moved to his upper lip and stirred the hairs of his mustache. "I do want to see how this feels. On me." she said quietly. Pulling back she openly asked, "I hope today wasn't a disappointment."

Eric smiled a little tightly only because her words had tightened part of him that was going to make him seem less than gentlemanly if he wasn't holding himself with a tight rein. "No disappointment. I'm just calculating how soon we might spend time together again."

"I'm working every night," she said.

"And I'm flying every day. But," he added, "you'll see Elena tomorrow when she brings by your clothes."

Jess rolled her teeth between her lips. "I'm not working tomorrow."

Eric wondered, and hoped a little, that the lip-pull meant what he thought it meant for Elena. He'd witnessed their kiss in the doorway, and before on the loveseat, and though they didn't know, before that he had seen the cause of their fall into the pool. He smiled and lifted his hand entwined with Jess's, pressed a kiss to her fingers, and then let her go. "You two should do something together. I know Elena enjoyed today a lot."

The blonde's head tilted a little, then she shook her head. "This is all so new to me."

"Good new?" he asked; she'd said on the drive out that she wanted this as a new experience. That the idea of the three of them excited her. Was that still how she felt?

She smiled. "Yes." She stepped from the car and he was treated to a rear view of black t-shirt and spandex shorts. She turned to close the door and caught his study of her. "Tell Elena she can take her clothes back tomorrow." She had lowered her voice, and leveled her gaze at him as she spoke.

Eric's blood immediately pounded his cock hard; he shifted on the seat to get comfortable. The look in Jess's eyes told him that she was hoping to have Elena take the clothes off of her. He inhaled and shook his head, pleased by her initiative. "Damn, and me without my camera," he said.

Jess's smile was full of smirk; god, he thought, he loved when a woman discovered her power. The blonde still had a long way to go; she hadn't grabbed his face, or even Elena's, to claim kisses from them tonight. But he had no doubt at some point, if they could keep seeing her, she would.

The night that happened would definitely be a night to remember.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This concludes the three-chapter preview of "We Three." I hope you enjoyed this peek into the beginning of Elena, Eric and Jess's relationship. 
> 
> Follow me on Goodreads to get information where to find the complete novel when it is published.


	4. Publication News and Cover Reveal!

It's here! It's here! Below you can see the cover art for the novel. The publisher has set the release date for February 1, 2019. Just in time for Valentine's Day. Check the [catalog page](https://supposedcrimes.com/products/we-three-one-and-one-and-one-makes-three?variant=12938390143029) for all the details.

 


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